


The Shade of the Tree

by ShyChangling



Series: CL AU [1]
Category: Red vs Blue
Genre: Alternate Universe - Fantasy, CL AU, Gen, I make North feel real bad in this, Injury
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-07-18
Updated: 2018-07-18
Packaged: 2019-06-12 06:29:38
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,828
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15333858
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ShyChangling/pseuds/ShyChangling
Summary: There's a Shade under a tree. North is ready to take it out if he's unable to persuade it to leave. Things quickly become complicated after firing the arrow into it.





	The Shade of the Tree

**Author's Note:**

> More of my CL AU. I have alot of ideas on how North and Theta meet in this au and this is simply the one that got written. Don't know if it'll be psuedo canon to the au. If that makes sense.

There were stories of an old crimson tree where a Shade lay waiting, hunting. The rumours spread far and eventually it reached the ears of Freelancer. The Twins, North and South found themselves in the village plagued by such rumours. 

There were no provoked violent attacks they had noted. South felt underwhelmed with it all. She tried digging deeper but all she picked up was accounts limited to the one crimson tree on a hill.

"Hunting is not the word I'd use to describe these incidents," North muses, armor clanking as he sits under some city shade. "Seems more like its on the defensive."

"It won't be long before it gets bored of that and you know it. Shades are always like this," South huffs thinking as she sips a warm cup. On the house. She looks over to North. "So who wants to look at the tree in question?" 

"I can check it out. From the sounds of it, its a small Shade. Probably just something recently arrived," North puts his hand over his crossbow.

"What you want to take it alone?" South laughs. "I'm not letting you have all the credit."

"Its an investigation, South. I'm not chasing it off alone. I don't have a death wish," he smiles. If it attacks him that's a different problem. Maybe he should take South just in case it goes down badly. Shades are unpredictable nightmares. But surely simply looking at the tree isn't enough to set off the creature.

But on the other hand, South is also unpredictable and may go out of her way to provoke it like the last beast they fought. That was an awful mission. "I think its best I seek it out first and see what we're dealing with." She'll get angry but its safest this way.

"Coddler. I'm a big girl," South pouts but sighs. "Fine, what ever. I'll get more information in town then."

\--

With that North finished his plate and headed to the lone crimson tree. Nothing out of the ordinary. Large though along the base. He certainly felt a prescience here. Must be the Shade's. He feels over the grass, checking for a pool. 

He lifts his hand up and smears a black ooze. "It's sleeping." He assumes anyway. Something flickers in the corner of his eyes. Something bubbling in the grass.

"Shit!" North stands quickly up and pulls his cross bow to his side loading it. Pointing it straight to the bubbling dark ooze. He moves back into the light away from the shadow as a shapeless mass pulls itself out of the shadow.

"Go away!" they scream. Seems it will keep to this mass form and won't show it's true shape any time soon. 

North holds his bow raised. He doesn't have backup. But this means South won't be here to act irrationally towards something that can hopefully be reasoned with. "I'm not here to fight. This is for defense, Shade." He moves back as if to show that.

"Go!" The Shade coils in on themself. The eyes glare purple and pink.

"You're scaring the villagers here. You need to make nest elsewhere."

"I'm not going!" they move in front of the tree taking on a more solid form. A large dark humanoid. Then they lunge forward. 

North releases his arrow and the Shade howls as the magic pins themself to the crimson tree. They try grabbing at the arrow and scream as it burns their hands.

"I warned you," North readies a second bolt. 

North aims again. But stops as the he notices the dark outer layer fading off his target. The size shrinks and colour peaks forth, many frightened eyes on a boy who couldn't be more then 15. He struggles in the air trying to free himself from the magic bolt.

"Oh god," North drops his bow and runs to the tree. "Shit no stop panicking please!"

The Shade morphs his arm to black claws and lashes out. "Back! No!"

"I'm trying to get it off you!" North shouts back. Shouting simply made the poor child cry and solidify around the arrow. "Fuck.. please kid just, calm down. Its okay, I made a mistake." He was really thankful South wasn't here to see this blunder. 

North breaks the end of the arrow. He carefully pulls the poor kid off it and lays him on the ground. "Shh, its okay. I'm sorry, I thought you were something.. else." Still very much a Shade but North had assumed something much older then this, he's never seen a child Shade. No one has, no one assumed they existed.

The Shade continues to cry, shoving away North's arms and covering the hole over his chest and dress. "I'm sorry," North repeats but he knows that is likely far from helping. He looks around almost expecting something else to attack. A mother Shade, something. But nothing shows. 

Do Shades even have family structures. Normally they are just those who would not die. North looks down with horror. Was this kid dying before? Did he intake the darkness to survive? Panic bubbles in his gut. "Shhh," he starts humming and gets out some bandages. Can he bandage a Shade? Will the kid even let him.

The Shade mumbles through tears. Pain burning in his chest. "You aren't killing me?" he says silently.

"I told you that was just defense." How much of that was really truth though, he came on this mission fully prepared to kill a Shade had chasing it off failed. "Do you have a name? I'm certain you do."

The Shade tries to push himself into the shadow beneath himself, but was stuck in a solid state still. He turns his head away and mumbles. "Theta. I think my name is Theta."

"You think?" that's a start. At least he's calming down now. North lifts the bandage over the wound, black dark blood stuck to it but it seems to be slowly closing on its own. Good, means the magic in his arrow failed. Bad in normal case good for this.

Theta doesn't respond, he sniffles and crawls back away. He opens his mouth to speak but doesn't voice out anything. He shuts his extra eyes and sits up slowly. 

"I promise, I won't hurt you. Don't move so much though, you're still healing," North puts the bandage back over him. "You can call me North, its what I'm known by."

"But it isn't your first name," Theta looks to the grass away.

"Its my name now, that's what matters," North knows better then to give his name to a Shade. False or original. They can be binding.

"You're going to make me leave this place," Theta starts to tear up again.

Shit. It clicks on him that Theta likely has no other home to return to. This tree may of been where he nearly died. That is why he latched to it. Guilt swells up and he brushes the hair out of Theta's face. "Hey, you can come with me."

"Don't you hunt Shades?" Theta keeps his eyes away from looking at him. "Won't you be a hypocrite to help me?"

North bites his bottom lip. "Well, sometimes if it can't be helped. Shades are dangerous but you know that." 

"We're parasites," Theta starts to cry again.

"Not always true," North knows there are two types of Shades. Theta seemed to be the safe kind. It should be fine. "You don't seem like a parasite at all."

"Then what am I?"

"A scared kid. If you need a shadow to hide in, you can take mine." North smiles, it was probably not smart to offer up himself as a Castor especially to a wild Shade. But this was his mistake. He struck a child and was going to be forced to remove him from here or risk the village calling in another more likely less then kind hunter group. He had little choice. "I can be a Castor for you. I'm not afraid."

"But I am." Theta trembles.

North holds out a hand to him. "You can be scared, I'll just have to be twice as brave." He wonders exactly how old this kid was. Either way it looks like he'll be adopting a new sibling. South will not be pleased. "I know the ritual. I'll tell you my real name."

\--

The ritual was successful. It was not as simple as giving your name. North rubs his eyes with his bandaged hands as he returns to the town. How to tell South. "Hey sis I'm a Castor now without Freelancer permission," he thinks that's a horrible way to announce it. 

He had spotted her picking dye in a store and hurries over to her. She'll be just as pissed to hear that he rid the problem himself. Maybe he could lie and say the Shade had left on its own. No she'll see right through that.

"South," he announces his presence to her in the shop.

"Oh finally the great North returns. So when do we finally get the Shade out of here," she leans to the side tossing a bottle dye into her pouch.

"About that, seems its gone." North will tell her when they're farther from the village after collecting pay.

\--

"You stupid fucking cockbite," South has her arms crossed. "You did not just let a Shade live under your feet."

"He's just a child."

"Oh yes, I'm so sure he's such a child. Maybe that's what it wants you to think?" South sighs loudly. "Did you even think for a moment before you let it crawl inside? God how can you be both so cold blooded and a fucking softy at once."

"He had no where to go. I know I'll get in trouble for this but I'll make a petition and I need you to back me up."

"You want me to vouch for them?"

"Him, Theta is a boy. Boy is right?" North looks to his feet.

"Yes, mostly."

"Oh god was that him? South lets her arms drop. "He can hear everything we say?"

"Sorry," Theta mumbles. "I don't mean to be a bother." He slowly climbs out of the shadow and hides behind North.

South scrunches her nose. "You don't possible see how any of this can be a trick right? There's a reason we can only be assigned to a Shade from the Projects."

"Don't say it like that, South. Please just try to understand why I'm doing this."

"Oh I'll try, but I do not like this." South though does feel a tug to her heart looking at Theta. He looks scared and confused. All the more reason she needs to watch her brothers back. He's too soft on children, he'd be an easy target if a Shade gets clever with that knowledge.

Theta kicks his feet clinging to North's arm. Seems he'll have some trouble with the sister. But at least he'll be safe with North.


End file.
